Every day, children of all ages are being told that they need glasses. Whether it is to make reading possible or to get rid of the fuzziness in their eyesight, pairs of glasses are being handed out left and right to kids. However, while in school and while doing other non-kinesthetic activities this is a non-issue, we see eye injuries related to sports occur all the time. Why not eliminate glasses all together with contacts? For children of young ages, contacts are a real struggle. With solutions already having been created, we can do better in solving this problem; maybe we will even solve a bigger issue due to the present solutions for eyesight-poor children in sports.  

Of the 100,000 eye injuries resulting from sports each year, an estimated 42,000 people are treated in the emergency room, and 13,500 end up legally blind.  Obviously this number is way too high, and needs to be lowered. For children, in 2014, 41 percent of injuries related to sports/sports equipment led to the emergency room for children ages 10 to 14 and 20 percent for children ages 5 to 9. You may say that a solution has been created for this issue, contact lenses, however there are specific flaws within that solution.

According to Dr. Jim Martin, O.D., the ability for a child to use contacts is based mainly on maturity and a little bit on hygiene.  Quite frankly, most 5-9 year old children aren’t mature enough or clean enough to be able to successfully stick their finger in their eye and put a contact in it. Besides the outlier child, there needs to be another solution. And there is! The notorious sports goggles, however, they have their own special issues.  

The National Eye Institute says, “Protective eyewear should be a part of any uniform because it plays such an important role in reducing sports related eye-injury.”  We completely agree that sports goggles are a great alternative when it comes to the injury side when playing sports with glasses, but there’s a whole different side that has seemed to have been overlooked that seems to play an equally large role in the safety and mental health of the children playing sports.

Bullying.

Speaking from personal experience, the Rec Specs (sports goggles) are very uncomfortable and unattractive. I wore them when I was younger, and even now that I wear contacts, I still getting bullied because of the fact that I was trying to be a safe athlete in my adolescent years. When getting bullied throughout my youth, I found it was better to save myself from the embarrassment and just take the goggles off. However, that then brings us back to the drawing board of not being able to see.

We are proud to introduce the new, improved sport goggle: Rollick Rims. These new glasses, made with the intention of being worn while playing sports, take appearance as well as safety into mind. While they look like real glasses they will be made of a lighter and more flexible materials, like the current option for sports goggles. The lenses will be plexiglass and the arms will be smaller in circumfrence (making it possible to use our peripheral vison). They will also be made of carbon-fiber – which is the same thing airplane wings are made out of. The advantage of carbon fiber is that it is an extremely light yet strong material. This means that the rims can be made thinner and still be strong and durable. Also by making the rims thinner the carbon fiber won’t be taught (like the plastic and other materials used to make normal reading glasses) allowing them to flex slightly on impact. This will allow for a sleeker less bulky look while maintaining the stability and protection of the current sports goggles.

Hopefully, with the creation of Rollick Rims, we can reduce the amount of bullying that occurs on youth sporting teams, while also protecting the eyesight of the little athletes. Rollick Rims want to lookout for both the physical and emotional aspects of being a human with feelings as well as an athlete. In doing so, we predict that the invention of Rollick Rims will enhance the performance and confidence in our young players. 

Protect. Excel. Rollick On.